Thursday, March 14, 2002

Common Name Confusion

Now I'm a bit confused. While looking thru some other websites I came across several references to Devil's Backbone as Pedilanthus tithymaloides. Your reference is Kalanchoe daigremonthana. Are both correct?
Devil's Backbone (Kalanchoe daigremontiana)

Your confusion is well understood. This is basically the problem with common names. Many completely different plants have the same name. So, both are correct in that sense. If only the correct botanical names were used, there would really be no confusion, in the majority of cases. We would simply call the one plant a Kalanchoe daigremontiana and the other a Pedilanthus tithymaloides. We would then know exactly what plant we were referring to. The problem here is that most folks have a bit of difficulty in using these words in everyday language. If you are interested in reading a little bit about plant names, refer to the article Plant Names in the archives of Brian's Garden. As I believe you are looking for Kalanchoe daigremontiana, it is available by mail-order from this company:

ABBEY GARDEN Cacti & Succulents
P.O. Box 2249
La Habra, CA 90632
Phone: (562) 905-3520
FAX: (562) 905-3522.

Abbey Garden offers around 2000 different cacti and succulent varieties.